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[YellowKing]

Here's the major problem with Bird Box the movie vs. Bird Box the book.

In the book, you're experiencing the events unfolding from the perspective of the main characters. You're feeling their terror as they move through this world blindly, hearing menace in every tiny noise. That's terrifying. You don't know what's out there until the character does.

Watching Sandra Bullock bumble around in a blindfold when you (as a passive observer) can see she's not in immediate danger - not so terrifying.

Incidentally, I read an article recently where they revealed some concept art for the creatures and they looked like greenish black-eyed zombie babies. Sandra Bullock reportedly didn't want to see the creature makeup until filming, and when they were unveiled she started laughing. That's when the filmmakers decided maybe showing the creatures was a bad idea. Which just tells me they didn't get the whole point of the book from the get-go.

[Isgrimnur]

Maybe they should have just stuck to an audiobook production.

[hepcat]

I wish I’d worn a blindfold while watching it. It might have had more impact.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

There's definitely a lot more tension in the book than in the movie, for a number of reasons that YK mentioned. They also spent much more time on the set-up; the thing making people go crazy didn't just spread throughout the world and kill everyone in a day or two; it spread slowly from place to place, making the waiting and unknowing part of the tension. Other aspects of the book that I'm unsure why they changed (spoilers for both the book and the movie):

Spoiler:

1) Sandra Bullock's character stays in her house with her sister for awhile after the badness has come. After her sister sees something and kills herself, Malorie is alone until she finds out about the house with survivors (I can't remember exactly how)

2) The house had fewer people living in it, which allowed more time to develop each character.

3) Gary (the dude they let in the house) is there for a lot longer. The housemates evict Gary after Malorie realizes what's up, but one of the housemates is sympathetic to Gary and lets him back in/hides him. Generally, the whole Gary plot is a lot more developed and more interesting.

4) Tom doesn't survive the attack with Gary. Malorie is left alone with the two babies.

5) There's a lot more about how Malorie trains the kids to be expert listeners.

6) The place Malorie ends up isn't a school for the blind (I don't think); instead, most of the people there have intentionally blinded themselves. A much darker ending.

7) There's no silly wind-swirling scariness of the things. They just may or may not be there if you take off your blindfold.

I think if the movie had stuck closer to all of those plot points of the book, it would have been much more interesting. It seemed like they wanted to make it more of an action movie, which is sort of silly when everyone is blindfolded most of the time (and doesn't really make sense with the world building).

[Paingod]

Other aspects of the book...

Spoiler:

Tom doesn't survive the attack with Gary. Malorie is left alone with the two babies.

I assume the change was made so there was some kind of lubricant for the transition from "whining artist" to "surviving the apocalypse" since he provided a lot of those skills as (correct me if I'm wrong) a former military man.

[Hyena]

Not sure if this has been discussed, but after reading the the basic concept of this movie (seeing something that makes you kill yourself) it appears to be, albeit narratively more interesting, strikingly similar to the awful movie of Shamalamadingdong's "The Happening." I have not seen it yet, but after reading this thread and looking at a basic storyline summary (spoiler-free), it mimics the idea. Even starts in Europe with random people suddenly jumping from buildings, stabbing themselves in the throat with hairpins, letting lions eat them alive, etc.

It's like the author watched The Happening and said, "Man, I can come up with a MUCH better story of people killing themselves!"

[rittchard]

I think with Bird Box, it really depends on how much you allow yourself to get invested into Sandra Bullock's performance (and the kids' as well). In spite of all the criticisms you guys have mentioned, many of which I agree with in retrospect, I have to say I was pretty riveted throughout. Somewhere towards the end I realized I had to catch my breath because I had more or less stopped breathing (well not quite that dramatic but I think you know what I mean). I remember saying I thought I might have a heart attack. In the mean time, my partner was just messing with his iPad, so predictably he was much less impressed with the movie than I was lol.

[rittchard]

Not sure if this has been discussed, but after reading the the basic concept of this movie (seeing something that makes you kill yourself) it appears to be, albeit narratively more interesting, strikingly similar to the awful movie of Shamalamadingdong's "The Happening." I have not seen it yet, but after reading this thread and looking at a basic storyline summary (spoiler-free), it mimics the idea. Even starts in Europe with random people suddenly jumping from buildings, stabbing themselves in the throat with hairpins, letting lions eat them alive, etc.

It's like the author watched The Happening and said, "Man, I can come up with a MUCH better story of people killing themselves!"

I think in the case of The Crappening, it's watching that movie that makes you want to kill yourself.

Seriously though that was one of the worst movies of all time that I've seen, and as some of you know, I am verrrrry tolerant on movies. The "acting" (use the word loosely) was just so bad, I now suspect it was intentional. I was laughing so hard throughout the movie and could not believe what I was seeing/hearing. I actually remember seeing the microphone boom thing in one of the scenes, and it showed up more than once, I was like is anyone else seeing this wtf. Also Betty Buckley should receive a special award for that movie. Damn now I need to go rewatch it to see if it is still as bad as it was in my head.

[Hyena]

Not sure if this has been discussed, but after reading the the basic concept of this movie (seeing something that makes you kill yourself) it appears to be, albeit narratively more interesting, strikingly similar to the awful movie of Shamalamadingdong's "The Happening." I have not seen it yet, but after reading this thread and looking at a basic storyline summary (spoiler-free), it mimics the idea. Even starts in Europe with random people suddenly jumping from buildings, stabbing themselves in the throat with hairpins, letting lions eat them alive, etc.

It's like the author watched The Happening and said, "Man, I can come up with a MUCH better story of people killing themselves!"

I think in the case of The Crappening, it's watching that movie that makes you want to kill yourself.

Seriously though that was one of the worst movies of all time that I've seen, and as some of you know, I am verrrrry tolerant on movies. The "acting" (use the word loosely) was just so bad, I now suspect it was intentional. I was laughing so hard throughout the movie and could not believe what I was seeing/hearing. I actually remember seeing the microphone boom thing in one of the scenes, and it showed up more than once, I was like is anyone else seeing this wtf. Also Betty Buckley should receive a special award for that movie. Damn now I need to go rewatch it to see if it is still as bad as it was in my head.

This review is spot on. That scene in the lion's den actually made me guffaw. I know for whatever reason M. Knight likes to have his performers under-act, but DAMN that movie was awful. Mark Wahlberg is normally a decent actor depending on the part he plays, but he looked flatlined throughout most of that movie.

I know I'm can't be the only one to notice this, but if you keep that thought in mind when watching his movies (underacting performances), it becomes comical. There are no outbursts, no yelling, no powerful acting scenes, hardly any emotional expressions at ALL on anyone's face. Everyone looks like they are sleepwalking through their performances, or maybe they are filming a simple rehearsal or run-through and that is what he wanted to print. I'm convinced that he doesn't want the actor's performance to overshadow his beloved story, so he has them cadaver their way through it. Think about Mel Gibson, one of the most lively, passionate actors back in the day (Braveheart, Payday, Lethal Weapon trilogy, etc.), then watch him stumble through Signs. Watch Bruce Willis (comedic/action hero legend) mumble his lines through Sixth Sense and Unbreakable. Hell just watch HIM deadpan his own lines he writes to shoehorn himself into his movies.

Somehow it has worked for several of his movies, as Sixth Sense was phenomenal, and I really liked Unbreakable and Split (the one example I can think of that broke from the above mentioned phenomenon; McAvoy does a masterful job), but wow has he done some craphole movies, too.

***EDITED*** Sorry I hijacked the thread. I'll stop now.

[Jaymann]

I saw an interview with M.Night and he comes off as a thoughtful, humble, reverent movie buff. If only that were enough to avoid the craptastic.

[YellowKing]

M. Night single-handedly made me hate Bryce Dallas Howard. Jurassic World didn't help matters.

Only her brilliant turn in the "Nosedive" Black Mirror episode has kept her out of my "actors who are dead to me" file.

[hepcat]

Mark Wahlberg is normally a decent actor depending on the part he plays,

This is where your post fell apart.

[Carpet_pissr]

Halfway through THE INNOCENT MAN and really enjoying it so far. It's a true-crime doc based on a non-fiction John Grisham novel about the murders of two women in a small town in Oklahoma. While it still has some of the familiar trappings of the genre, it feels less sensationalistic than other recent docs I've watched.

This is amazing. And scary as hell. One of those things that all Americans should see IMO.
Bottom line: no, our justice system is not above railroading innocent people, and putting them on death row.

Obviously this is just ONE (admittedly pretty big and outlandish) example, but heard an ex DA talking about the same thing on the radio last week. If you are poor or non-white, watch out! Apparently we haven't progressed a lot since the events of this doc, because all of that is still very much happening today.

[hepcat]

I watched the four episode mini series Evil Genius this week. It tells the story of the bank robbery in Erie, PA in the early 2000s in which a man with a bomb locked around his neck was forced to commit the crime...with tragic results. The story starts off like a horror film, then gets weirder and weirder as it goes.

Mark Walhberg plays a desk chair in it, I think. I mean, the desk chair seemed to be as good an actor.

[Jaymann]

I watched the four episode mini series Evil Genius this week. It tells the story of the bank robbery in Erie, PA in the early 2000s in which a man with a bomb locked around his neck was forced to commit the crime...with tragic results. The story starts off like a horror film, then gets weirder and weirder as it goes.

Mark Walhberg plays a desk chair in it, I think. I mean, the desk chair seemed to be as good an actor.

Please, he went all method actor on this one and played a standing lamp to perfection.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Halfway through THE INNOCENT MAN and really enjoying it so far. It's a true-crime doc based on a non-fiction John Grisham novel about the murders of two women in a small town in Oklahoma. While it still has some of the familiar trappings of the genre, it feels less sensationalistic than other recent docs I've watched.

This is amazing. And scary as hell. One of those things that all Americans should see IMO.
Bottom line: no, our justice system is not above railroading innocent people, and putting them on death row.

Obviously this is just ONE (admittedly pretty big and outlandish) example, but heard an ex DA talking about the same thing on the radio last week. If you are poor or non-white, watch out! Apparently we haven't progressed a lot since the events of this doc, because all of that is still very much happening today.

If you haven't seen it, you should definitely track down the documentary Paradise Lost and its follow-ups. It was the first true crime doc dealing with the above themes that I remember seeing and it's still the one I think back to the most. I think you can find them on HBO Go.

[Hyena]

Mark Wahlberg is normally a decent actor depending on the part he plays,

This is where your post fell apart.

Well, at least you made it that far. I *did* qualify with the "depending on the part" disclaimer. At least gimme this, he did a good job in The Other Guys, Shooter, The Fighter, The Departed, and Lone Survivor. In Ted he played well enough off of McFarlane's...nevermind. He was onscreen with an animatronic teddy bear, that doesn't help my argument.

[Daehawk]

Shooter was good. Saw it not too many months ago for a second time with my wife.

[Z-Corn]

If you haven't seen it, you should definitely track down the documentary Paradise Lost and it's follow-ups.

Free the West Memphis 3!

Well, spoiler, they have been freed, but what a fucked-up shitshow the whole thing was. I donated money several times to this cause.

[gameoverman]

There's definitely a lot more tension in the book than in the movie, for a number of reasons that YK mentioned. They also spent much more time on the set-up; the thing making people go crazy didn't just spread throughout the world and kill everyone in a day or two; it spread slowly from place to place, making the waiting and unknowing part of the tension. Other aspects of the book that I'm unsure why they changed (spoilers for both the book and the movie):

Spoiler:

1) Sandra Bullock's character stays in her house with her sister for awhile after the badness has come. After her sister sees something and kills herself, Malorie is alone until she finds out about the house with survivors (I can't remember exactly how)

2) The house had fewer people living in it, which allowed more time to develop each character.

3) Gary (the dude they let in the house) is there for a lot longer. The housemates evict Gary after Malorie realizes what's up, but one of the housemates is sympathetic to Gary and lets him back in/hides him. Generally, the whole Gary plot is a lot more developed and more interesting.

4) Tom doesn't survive the attack with Gary. Malorie is left alone with the two babies.

5) There's a lot more about how Malorie trains the kids to be expert listeners.

6) The place Malorie ends up isn't a school for the blind (I don't think); instead, most of the people there have intentionally blinded themselves. A much darker ending.

7) There's no silly wind-swirling scariness of the things. They just may or may not be there if you take off your blindfold.

I think if the movie had stuck closer to all of those plot points of the book, it would have been much more interesting. It seemed like they wanted to make it more of an action movie, which is sort of silly when everyone is blindfolded most of the time (and doesn't really make sense with the world building).

You didn't mention if the book told the story in two different timelines. I think just making the one change, tell the story chronologically, would have vastly improved it. There's not much point to developing characters when the audience knows they don't matter. Wow, #6 would have made this movie extremely memorable.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

I’m pretty sure the book had the multiple timelines, so I don’t fault the movie for going in that direction as well. I see your point, though.

[Toe]

Derby Girls was very entertaining.

I was re-reading and noticed auto-correct sucks. It's Derry Girls.

The wife and I watched this recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a short series (six 30-min episodes) with a frantic pace, but it works really well. It is a northern Irish sitcom set in Derry Ireland in the 90s following the lives of a group of high-school girls. You probably need to turn on subtitles for it as they have heavy accents and speak rapidly most of the time (and use words you might not be familiar with here and there).

[rittchard]

Mark Wahlberg is normally a decent actor depending on the part he plays,

This is where your post fell apart.

In all fairness, Mark Wahlberg in Transformers is like Academy Award material compared to Mark Wahlberg in The Crappening.

- - -

Back on topic, binging Sex Education now. OMFG this has got to be one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time, but there are a lot of touching moments as well (pun intended). Gillian Anderson is absolutely brilliant as a sex therapist single mother, and Asa Butterfield (Ender) is fantastic as her son, the shy protagonist who learns to use his therapy knowledge at his high school. Be forewarned that there is a ton of teen sex and general sex related topics, plus boobs and male ass, so if you aren't comfortable with that kind of stuff, you should probably avoid it. But otherwise you are in for a real treat.

[GuidoTKP]

If you haven't seen it, you should definitely track down the documentary Paradise Lost and it's follow-ups.

Free the West Memphis 3!

Well, spoiler, they have been freed, but what a fucked-up shitshow the whole thing was. I donated money several times to this cause.

If you're into this kind of thing, definitely give Season 2 of the In The Dark podcast a listen. If the story of what was done to Curtis Flowers doesn't have you howling for justice, nothing will get to you.

[Paingod]

Back on topic, binging Sex Education now. OMFG this has got to be one of the best comedies I've seen in a long time, but there are a lot of touching moments as well (pun intended). Gillian Anderson is absolutely brilliant as a sex therapist single mother, and Asa Butterfield (Ender) is fantastic as her son, the shy protagonist who learns to use his therapy knowledge at his high school. Be forewarned that there is a ton of teen sex and general sex related topics, plus boobs and male ass, so if you aren't comfortable with that kind of stuff, you should probably avoid it. But otherwise you are in for a real treat.

A couple days ago, my wife greeted me as I woke up by asking why Netflix was recommending Sex Education for me as a viewer. I groaned and said it was probably because it was new and popular, and not because I had been searching for porn on Netflix. I'm amused that it's T&A, but the A isn't what you'd expect. Good on them.

[McNutt]

I saw on Reddit that some guy's tattoo will be associated with Bird Box for at least the near future.

[hepcat]

Mark Wahlberg is normally a decent actor depending on the part he plays,

This is where your post fell apart.

In all fairness, Mark Wahlberg in Transformers is like Academy Award material compared to Mark Wahlberg in The Crappening.

That's like saying you preferred the acting of a garden gnome you saw in the background during The Godfather to the acting of a garden gnome you saw in the background during Battlefield Earth.

Seriously people, we need to come to grips with the fact that Wahlberg can't act. People get hurt when he tries to emote.

Gillian Anderson is absolutely brilliant as a sex therapist single mother

Now THAT'S a seriously underrated actress. Anderson is always great in whatever she does. She even does accents so well that I don't cringe when I hear her doing one.

[McNutt]

Wahlberg is not a versatile actor. I have to admit that I enjoyed him in The Departed and Boogie Nights. Everything else was pretty bad.

I read that he was considered for one of the leads in Brokeback Mountain. Sweet Bird Mahalia Jackson he would have ruined that movie. Can you seriously imagine him trying to pull that one off?

[Jaymann]

"Sniff, I can't quit you man. Hey, are you packing?"

[gameoverman]

Wahlberg is not a versatile actor. I have to admit that I enjoyed him in The Departed and Boogie Nights. Everything else was pretty bad.

I read that he was considered for one of the leads in Brokeback Mountain. Sweet Bird Mahalia Jackson he would have ruined that movie. Can you seriously imagine him trying to pull that one off?

I'd classify him as a 'movie star' and not as an 'actor'. He's the kind of person you cast when you have a role that calls for what he brings to the table. I think that's why he worked so well in Boogie Nights. That movie has many qualities, but one for sure is excellent casting. Everyone in that movie is being used to their full potential. I don't mean this as a put down either. There are plenty of people who can't deliver even when they are playing a role in their comfort zone. That's why I don't hold it against him when I see his work in The Happening. He was brought into something there that shouldn't have been offered to him, and to compound things the material was half assed to start with. Brokeback Mountain? Haha, that would have been hilariously awful. I think he could have handled the first part, getting into the relationship. I can't imagine how the emotional separation part would have gone with him in it.

[Ralph-Wiggum]

Am I the only person who didn't realize until very recently that Mark Wahlberg is a serious (and violent) racist? I would have thought the fact that he was charged with attempted murder as a teenager, in what now would definitely qualify as a hate crime, should have prevented him from becoming a movie star.

[Z-Corn]

If you haven't seen it, you should definitely track down the documentary Paradise Lost and it's follow-ups.

Free the West Memphis 3!

Well, spoiler, they have been freed, but what a fucked-up shitshow the whole thing was. I donated money several times to this cause.

If you're into this kind of thing, definitely give Season 2 of the In The Dark podcast a listen. If the story of what was done to Curtis Flowers doesn't have you howling for justice, nothing will get to you.

Thanks, subbed and downloaded!

[TheMix]

Huh? I guess you aren't. That's disturbing. <-- Re: Mark Wahlberg

[Zaxxon]

Kim's Convenience is hilarious. My wife somehow found it and got us started on it.

[Z-Corn]

Am I the only person who didn't realize until very recently that Mark Wahlberg is a serious (and violent) racist? I would have thought the fact that he was charged with attempted murder as a teenager, in what now would definitely qualify as a hate crime, should have prevented him from becoming a movie star.

I heard he almost popped a Vietnamese dude's eye out.

Donny got him out of the charges.

[McNutt]

He recently petitioned to be pardoned of that crime because he's Mark Wahlberg. Seriously, because he's Mark Wahlberg.

He later dropped that request. I don't think he was able adequately portray sorrow.

[Isgrimnur]

Gillian Anderson is absolutely brilliant as a sex therapist single mother

Now THAT'S a seriously underrated actress. Anderson is always great in whatever she does. She even does accents so well that I don't cringe when I hear her doing one.

Her turn in Hannibal was horrible. And I didn’t exactly love her as Media in American Gods.

[gameoverman]

Am I the only person who didn't realize until very recently that Mark Wahlberg is a serious (and violent) racist? I would have thought the fact that he was charged with attempted murder as a teenager, in what now would definitely qualify as a hate crime, should have prevented him from becoming a movie star.

My first exposure to him was the Good Vibrations song, that was pre-internet. I knew he was related to that New Kids singer, that was it. So for a lot of people he was already well into his career before anything negative about him was known. These days he wouldn't have a chance to get started before someone pulled the plug on him.

edit: I saw UFO, Gillian Anderson is in that. It's a smaller supporting role, but I thought it was interesting because it felt different than the kind of character you'd expect her to play in a movie called "UFO". The movie itself was good enough, considering its obviously low budget. I thought it there were some intriguing ideas in it.

[hepcat]

Gillian Anderson is absolutely brilliant as a sex therapist single mother

Now THAT'S a seriously underrated actress. Anderson is always great in whatever she does. She even does accents so well that I don't cringe when I hear her doing one.

Her turn in Hannibal was horrible. And I didn’t exactly love her as Media in American Gods.

She was fantastic in both of those shows. Go back to your Markie Mark fan club.

[YellowKing]

Gillian's best work, in my humble opinion, was in THE FALL.